Indian Pitta (Pitta brachyura) complete detail – updated

Indian Pitta (Pitta brachyura) complete detail – updated. Description of Indian Pitta (Pitta brachyura) Nawarang. Classification of Indian Pitta (Pitta brachyura). The Pitta is a bird of well-wooded and scrubby country. The Pitta’s call is a two-part whistle, a ‘keee-kee’ note uttered mostly in the mornings. The most common call-note is a loud, clear double whistle wheel-tew, heard mostly in the mornings and evenings and also on cloudy overcast days. It has a double-noted whistling call is a ‘pree-treer’, the first note sharper and the second one…………..

It is mainly terrestrial in habits, but roosts at night in low trees. It is fond of nullahs and ravines with plenty of undergrowth, deciduous as well as evergreen, and is met with both near and away from human habitations. Indian Pitta is a very colorful bird. Size between 18 cm. to 20 cm. Indian pitta is a small stubby-tailed bird. The beak of Indian Pitta is orange or brownish-orange with black tip.

The wings and back are a dark bluish-green and there is a bright cobalt blue patch in the wing coverts. The black primary feathers have a large white patch in the middle that is seen only when the wings are spread. Wings are not only blue but also emerald, white, and black. The very short and stubby tail is not clearly seen always as it is sometimes covered by the wings…………

Local name of Indian Pitta (Pitta brachyura) is Nawarang. They feed on insects, spiders, small worms, slugs and even small snails. The nesting season is between May and August, with peaks in June in central India, and in July in northern India.

Distinctive Identification

Indian Pitta is a very colorful bird. Size between 18 cm. to 20 cm. Indian pitta is a small stubby-tailed bird. The beak of Indian Pitta is orange or brownish-orange with black tip. The bright cerulean blue tail has a black edge. Throat and neck is white.

The breast and belly are orange-yellow or brownish-yellow. The lower belly and vent are scarlet red. Legs and feet are pink and the nails are brown.

The upper parts are green, with a blue tail, the underparts buff, with bright red on the lower belly and vent.

The wings and back are a dark bluish-green and there is a bright cobalt blue patch in the wing coverts. The black primary feathers have a large white patch in the middle that is seen only when the wings are spread. Wings are not only blue but also emerald, white, and black.

The very short and stubby tail is not clearly seen always as it is sometimes covered by the wings.

Distribution

Practically all India- excepting the dry North-West portion, Assam and Ceylon. Indian pitta resident in North and Central India, but a winter visitor to South India and Ceylon. Indian pitta is mostly seen on the floor of forests or under dense undergrowth, foraging on insects in leaf litter.

Indian pittas breed mainly in the Himalayan foothills from the Margalla hills northern Pakistan in the west to at least Nepal and possibly up to Sikkim in the east. They also breed in the hills of central India and in the Western Ghats south to Karnataka. They migrate to all parts of peninsular India and Sri Lanka in winter.

Indian pitta is endemic to our sub-continent. In summer it breeds upto 1200 meters in the Himalayan foothills (nearest to Delhi being Morni, Kalka and Kalesar in Haryana, Dehradun and Corbett in Uttaranchal, Sariska in Rajasthan), from Pakistan, India, Nepal to Southern Rajasthan and North Karnataka.

Indian pitta is recently seen in Nai-Ka-Nath, Bassi Rajasthan.

Habit and habitat

Indian pitta is mostly seen on the floor of forests or under dense undergrowth, foraging on insects in leaf litter.

The Pitta is a bird of well-wooded and scrubby country. It is fond of nullahs and ravines with plenty of undergrowth, deciduous as well as evergreen, and is met with both near and away from human habitations. It is mainly terrestrial in habits, but roosts at night in low trees.

Indian pitta feed on insects, spiders, small worms, slugs and even small snails. Indian pitta also feed on seeds and fallen fruits.

The Indian Pitta’s call is a two-part whistle, a ‘keee-kee’ note uttered mostly in the mornings. The most common call-note is a loud, clear double whistle wheel-tew, heard mostly in the mornings and evenings and also on cloudy overcast days. It has a double-noted whistling call is a ‘pree-treer’, the first note sharper and the second one falling.

In flight, which is slow and feeble, the round white spot near the tip of the extended wings is conspicuous. The nesting season is between May and August, with peaks in June in central India, and in July in northern India.

Nest is a large globular structure about a foot in diameter, composed of fine twigs, grass, roots, dry leaves, etc. with a circular entrance hole at the side. Eggs 3 to 6 four to six, glossy china-white, with spots, specks and fine hair lines of dull or dark purple.